


for just this moment lost in time, I am finally me

by ShinyMilotics



Series: Empress [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Mutual Pining, Post-Time Skip, pre-release
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-13 02:59:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19242460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShinyMilotics/pseuds/ShinyMilotics
Summary: “Join me,” Edelgard said, placing both of her hands at Beleth’s shoulders. Beleth was still taller, but just a little bit less so now than she was five years ago.“Join me. Fight with me and the Empire."





	for just this moment lost in time, I am finally me

**Author's Note:**

> the game isn't even out and I'm already dying because of this ship. please send help

Edelgard had known that Fódlan would fall into chaos.

She may have been optimistic at some point, blinded by teenage naiveté. Her time at the Academy had been so sweet, so peaceful, that she had actually begun to believe that perhaps there was hope. Perhaps, working together with Dimitri and Claude, and with the guidance of her teachers, they would be able to usher in a peaceful era.

And yet still, there was always a part of her, hidden deep within, that always knew that Fódlan’s brutal fate was inevitable. She could feel it in the deepest part of her heart. So long as the crests continued to poison its land and the hearts of its people, the continent would not know peace.

Claude had attempted to reason with her. Attempted to convince her that she did not need to go to war, that there was another way; but he, too, was naive. To back down would mean to accept the state of the continent as it was. To stand by and watch as leaders continued to be driven to madness by their thirst for power, at the expense of their people. She had read once that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing. She refused to do nothing. The people of the Adrestian Empire were owed that much.

“Forgive me, Claude,” she had told him that dreary afternoon. “But you ask of me something that I cannot concede.” Then she turned and walked away from him, never to see him the way she did at the Academy.

What use is there in fighting in the name of justice as some sort of abstract concept? What, in fact, constitutes justice? Whose prerogative is it to decide what justice means?

That was what had truly started this war. Every man and woman taking it upon themselves to pursue what they believe justice to be, and with whatever means they deem just. So long as Edelgard lived, she would fight to break that cycle. If the others were corrupted, if they could not see what was right, then she would show them by force.  
  


* * *

 

It was dark and foggy on the day that Edelgard’s heart was shaken in a way that she never would have expected.

In the midst of battle, she had heard a familiar voice. A voice that made her heart accelerate and her stomach to sink.

She followed it until she was alone at the edge of the woods, looking at the back of a woman with light green hair, dressed all in black. Her breath hitched.

“It’s been a long time, my teacher.”

Byleth turned abruptly, reaching for the sword at her waist by instinct. Her eyes took in the magnificent sight of Edelgard, donning a grandiose red dress and cape that were absolutely fitting of her. She was beautiful.

“Edelgard…” she spoke quietly, her body tense. Emotions battled inside her. She was so happy to see Edelgard again after so long, but not quite so happy that it was like this. “It really was you.”

Edelgard took a few steps closer. Even the way she walked, Byleth noted, exuded power and grace. “Are you so unhappy to see me?”

“No,” said Byleth. “I am… glad to see you, Edelgard.”

Edelgard tilted her head to one side just slightly. “Your tone and expression betray you, Professor.”

The corner of Byleth’s mouth tilted upwards a bit. “I am not your teacher anymore, Edelgard. And you are no longer the girl who was my student.”

Indeed she wasn’t. That girl had been naive and a bit foolish, but so very happy. She was not her anymore. She was a woman now. She was Edelgard von Hresvelg, the Empress of the Adestrian Empire. And she couldn't go back.

“Perhaps not, but…” She paused, pursing her lips for a moment. She looked away. “In my heart, you will always be my teacher.”

Byleth perked upward. Electricity sparked through her veins.

“Edelgard…”

Edelgard came closer, until she was just a very short distance from Byleth.

“What are you fighting for, my Teacher? Whose side are you taking in this war? You cannot tell me that you are-”

“I’ve not taken a side,” Byleth said, interrupting Edelgard’s questions. “I am a mercenary now, as my father was. I… cannot take a side. It is not my right.”

Edelgard’s fists clenched at her side, her red kidskin gloves audibly crunching.

“Of course it is. Of course it is your right. You are entitled to choosing who and what you believe in, Teacher, and fighting for that!”

“It’s not so simple-”

“Join me,” Edelgard said, placing both of her hands at Byleth’s shoulders. Byleth was still taller, but just a little bit less so now than she was five years ago.

“Join me. Fight with me and the Empire. We are the only ones who can bring Fódlan to-”

“I can’t!”

Edelgard’s pristine eyes widened at the increase in Byleth’s tone.

“I can’t do that, Edelgard. I can’t. I… You wouldn’t understand.”

“What is there to not understand, Teacher? What about everything you taught me, five years ago? What about all of your ideals?!”

“They have not changed. I…” Byleth sighed. She placed a hand over one of Edelgard’s that held her shoulder. “I am still the same person, Edelgard. My time at the Academy with the Black Eagles meant everything to me. My time with you.”

Edelgard’s expression soured.

“But this war… It is not mine to take a stand in. I must leave that to the others, and to you, Edelgard.”

Edelgard felt painful disbelief. She could scarcely believe what she was hearing. She had learned so much from Byleth - and such a broad range of things, too. Practical skills like sword and axefaire, battle strategy and tactics. History, philosophy, even art. How to be strong in her convictions. To be a mature woman.

She had looked up to her so much. Out of everything that comprised her time as a student at the Academy, what she missed the most was learning from Byleth. Being with her. Looking at her. And now, standing in front of her again after so long, those warm feelings were racing back, and clashing with the emotions that the moment was bringing her.

“Teacher… that just isn’t right. Your place is with the Empire. It always has been, you know it as well as I do!”

“Yes,” Byleth said. “The Empire is my place. Just as my heart’s place is with you.”

“Professor--”

Byleth cupped Edelgard’s chin and gently tilted it upwards. She looked into her icy gaze, then down at her plump lips.

“No matter who or what I fight with, Edelgard, my heart will always belong to you.”

She closed the distance, leaning down, and kissing Edelgard’s lips.

Edelgard let out a breath of surprise at first, but quickly relaxed against Byleth, parting her lips and tilting her head just so. Emotions burst inside her like cannonfire. How long had she day dreamed about this? How many sleepless nights did she spend in her bed, flushed and imagining what it might be like to taste her Teacher’s sweet lips?

She shivered when Byleth’s tongue brushed past her lips and against her own. Byleth had moves her hands to cup her face and was gently guiding her through the kiss, as she did with everything. It was equal measures tender and hot as fire.

When Byleth pulled slowly away, Edelgard hooked a hand behind her neck and brought her in again, ensnaring her in a kiss far more intense than the first. She walked backwards and pulled Byleth with her until her back was against the trunk of a tree, and Byleth had her pinned tightly against it. Their hands wandering, Edelgard’s clutching at Byleth’s hair, and Byleth’s smoothing up her thigh. It all was making Edelgard dizzy with passion.

They separated for air, and both took quick, loud breaths, their faces just inches apart. Edelgard touched Byleth’s cheek.

“Is there truly nothing that I can say that will convince you? Nothing that will sway you into-- into fighting with me-”

Byleth kissed her again, brief this time. “Not for now. But when the time comes, Edelgard, I will take your side.”

“Promise,” Edelgard pleaded. “Promise me.”

“I promise.”

Edelgard drew her into another kiss. She’d hardly noticed that a tear had begun to make its way down her cheek.

In the sweet grasp of Edelgard’s lips, Byleth could almost forget that she wasn’t certain she would be able to keep her promise. That even she didn’t know how far she would be willing to go for Edelgard.

Edelgard, the prodigy Empress. The most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Her favorite student.

They kissed, and kissed, and as the fog enveloped them, they lost themselves in that ephemeral bliss.

**Author's Note:**

> have a suggestion/request, or are interested in commissioning me? shoot me an email at shinycommissions@gmail.com ~


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